


The Inherent Value of Art and Gymnastics

by Ava_now



Series: Barisi Dads AU [22]
Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Babies, Life Choices, M/M, Surprises, career choices, dads still in love, daughters all grown up with secrets, family fic, lots of love, the call of nature vs. the call of your parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:21:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25943524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ava_now/pseuds/Ava_now
Summary: “Have you told them yet?” Davis asked, then sat up and began to button his shirt.She shook her head.  “Are you kidding?  Since I was a baby, they’ve had plans for me to do post-graduate work before I ever even started dating.  This is going to kill them both.”  Her voice dropped a bit and she looked down.  “I don’t think I’ve ever disappointed them on a level even close to this.”He cupped her chin.  “Bebita, they’ve got to understand.  You’re not a child.  You’re an intelligent young woman.  Just because you’re not going to get your Ph.D. right away doesn’t mean you’ve failed them.  There’s nothing wrong with what we’ve decided.”She smiled, feeling partially broken.  “Except that I’ve hidden it all from them, let them believe what they wanted.  They always wanted me to be honest, to have the balls to speak my truth.  It figures the one time it matters the most, I trip on it.”****In case you've ever wondered what the Barba-Carisis would be like twenty years from now, here you go.And in the end, it really does boil down to the inherent value of art and gymnastics.  You'll see.  Rafael did.
Relationships: Original Male Character/Original Female Character, Rafael Barba/Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr.
Series: Barisi Dads AU [22]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1541101
Comments: 6
Kudos: 37





	The Inherent Value of Art and Gymnastics

**Author's Note:**

> Hi and thanks for checking this out!
> 
> I've often wondered what these characters would be like in the future and where it would take them, so I took a little stab at it and played around. And now I want to explore Billie Rollins, lol!
> 
> Hope you enjoy this little piece I played with over the weekend. Kudos and comments are really wonderful and I truly appreciate them!

“We really need to stop,” she murmured in his ear, and he pulled his hand out from under her shirt, sighing.

“Three more days,” he told her, kissing her neck. “Three more days and you’ll be my roommate--”

Marley giggled. “I’ll be more than that, buddy.” She tweaked a nipple. 

“Have you told them yet?” Davis asked, then sat up and began to button his shirt.

She shook her head. “Are you kidding? Since I was a baby, they’ve had plans for me to do post-graduate work before I ever even started dating. This is going to kill them both.” Her voice dropped a bit and she looked down. “I don’t think I’ve ever disappointed them on a level even close to this.”

He cupped her chin. “Bebita, they’ve got to understand. You’re not a child. You’re an intelligent young woman. Just because you’re not going to get your Ph.D. right away doesn’t mean you’ve failed them. There’s nothing wrong with what we’ve decided.”

She smiled, feeling partially broken. “Except that I’ve hidden it all from them, let them believe what they wanted. They always wanted me to be honest, to have the balls to speak my truth. It figures the one time it matters the most, I trip on it.”

He kissed her forehead. “Oh, don’t be so hard on yourself. I like your balls.”

She shoved him in the chest, laughing, just as they heard the front door open. “Shit,” she whispered, adjusting her bra. “That’s probably Daddy.” She yanked the door to her childhood bedroom open, and they both hurried out from the room.

Sonny was in the kitchen, pouring himself a glass of water. “Hey Dolly,” he greeted her, reaching around and giving her a quick side hug, “And hello, Dolly’s significant other. I’ll try to pretend I didn’t see what I just saw, and I’ll try not to tell your papi. He’ll have you pregnant and out of school before I finish my sentence.”

Marley and Davis glanced at each other. “So how was work? Did you see Jesse today?” Jesse was starting her second year of law school and was interning in the DA’s office. 

Sonny smiled at his daughter. “Actually, I did. I told her you were in town and she told me she already knew. I assume you all are getting together later?”

Marley cocked her head. “Maybe. We’re trying to find a good time Noah and his boyfriend can meet us. I was really hoping that Billie could join us too, but she hasn’t returned my texts. I got the impression from Jesse that things aren’t so great right now?”

Sonny sighed. “That’s just been hard for everyone. Your Aunt Amanda...it’s still hard for her to talk about. Of all the jobs in the world that girl could pick, she picks the one guaranteed to break her mother’s heart.”

“I know, Daddy, but it’s legal. She’s working for a reputable company and is well-paid. Hell, her insurance is better than mine. It’s not like she’s just doing it in some jerk’s basement.” Marley grabbed a couple of clementines and tossed one to Davis.

“Oh wait,” he asked, catching the fruit, “is this the chick who’s a porn actress?”

“Yeah,” Marley replied, and Sonny shot him a not-so-private glare. Marley reached over and elbowed her dad. “Don’t be rude.”

“Sorry,” he replied, sighing. “It’s just I still see that little girl I used to swing in my arms and when I think about the other…” His face curled up in disgust. “I guess at least it’s not prostitution.”

“Again, in the right place, it’s regulated,” she reminded him, before changing the subject. “When’s Papi gonna be home, anyway? I thought we were all going out to dinner tonight.”

“He’s going to meet us there,” Sonny told her. “He got tied up at the legislative session yesterday and didn’t get back until early this morning. I don’t know if he would have even made it back if it weren’t for you two coming. You know how your papi is--always giving a hundred and fifty percent.”

“On his off days,” Marley smirked, and Sonny chuckled.

“I’ve missed my girl,” he told her, once again ruffling her hair like he used to when she was little. “This place is too damn quiet without a kid.”

Marley ignored her boyfriend’s kick on her shin.

***

“Mija,” her father greeted her with the warm, tight hug she always associated with him. “How are you, princesa?”

“Papi,” she blushed, “I’m good...but I’m NOT a princess.”

He smiled proudly. “Always princesa to me,” he told her, as they all took seats around the table at the small Italian restaurant. Nodding to Marlene’s boyfriend, he greeted, “Davis. How are things going?”

“Pretty well,” Davis nodded back. “I’m waiting on my bar results. Should be any day.”

“Papi, he’s going to be clerking for Judge Calhoun,” Marley said. Turning to Sonny, she said, “How about that, Daddy? You may be seeing Davis in the courtroom!”

Sonny smiled. “Good for you, Davis. That’s an impressive position, if you can handle the judge.”

They all laughed, and the waiter poured their wine and took their orders.

“So Marlene,” Rafael said, “when does school start for you? Finishing up now...I can’t believe our little girl is starting on her doctorate in psychology! Daddy and I are so proud of you. Oh, and Fin wanted us to let you know that Ken said he’d be happy to give you access to their program for research if you needed it…”

“Well, unfortunately, I won’t be needing it.” Marley picked around her salad, a tell she’d had since childhood, and Rafael immediately put down his own fork.

“Out with it, mija.” He nodded toward her plate. “Whenever you pick, it’s because you need to talk. Whatever it is, tell us.”

Sonny downed his wine.

“All right,” she said, laying her fork on her plate. “I’ve decided to hold off on getting my doctorate.”

“Dolly...why? You’ve gotten that scholarship into Columbia that you wanted--”

“They’re willing to let me wait a couple of years, considering my reasons,” she said, and glanced at Davis.

“Oh God,” Sonny muttered, grabbing Rafael’s hand with one of his and filling his glass with the other.

“Daddy...Papi…” she took a deep breath, “I’m pregnant.”

“Holy fuck,” Rafael said. “How is this even possible?”

“Well, you know how it’s possible,” Davis told him. “The man puts his penis inside the woman’s vagina…”

Sonny grabbed the bottle of wine and drank directly from it.

“It’s actually because of art,” Marlene said knowledgeably. “If you’d let me take art instead of forcing me into gymnastics, I would never have become so flexible, nor would I have felt like I needed to free myself from your demanding grasp. It's all about choices, isn't it? Anyway, we all love kids, don’t we? And you guys will get to watch them every Saturday night!”

“We can’t!” Rafael cried. “It’s the only night we’re guaranteed sex each week! We can’t lose that! Do you know how hard your dad and I have worked to make that happen? Do you know what it’s like for two men over fifty-five to hit it out of the park together on the same night each week?”

“Speaking of which,” Marley said, and now she was eating chicken nuggets, curls askew over her five-year old head, “you guys are SO loud. If you don’t get it under control, I’m going to eventually get curious, you know.”

Sonny elbowed him. “I keep telling you to keep it down during the week. Looking around the restaurant, Sonny announced, “He’s quieter when his mouth is stuffed with my dick!”

“I’m quiet!” Five year old Marlene commented, mouth full of chicken nugget.

“You haven’t been quiet since you were born,” Sonny told her, and Rafael slowly opened his eyes to see his husband and his daughter in the bed next to him, and the TV was on the cooking channel. “See, dolly? I told you it would happen! You woke up sleeping beauty!”

“Aw, Papi,” Marley laughed, and kissed his temple. “You’re so tute, Papi! You’re Sweeping Beauty! I sorry! Daddy was makin’ me waugh!”

“It’s okay,” Rafael reassured her, “it was definitely time to wake up.” He watched his husband and daughter chatting and laughing about the TV for a couple of minutes, then went to wash his face.

***

“I had a dream,” he told Sonny that night as they were getting ready for bed.

“Oh yeah?” Sonny dug through his drawer for the sleep shirt he wanted.

“Yeah.” Rafael pulled a tank top on. “Do you ever think that we push Marlene into activities WE think she should do, rather than what she wants to do?”

Sonny pulled his shirt on, then sat on the bed next to him. “Is this about the gymnastics thing again?”

Rafael shrugged. “Maybe. In the dream we had been so controlling, so overbearing with what WE wanted, that she threw away a scholarship for a doctorate at Columbia and got pregnant with her boyfriend.” He shook his head. “He was clerking for Rita Calhoun though, so it’s not like they were destitute.”

Sonny cackled. “Rita was a judge? That must’ve been some dream. What did you eat last night?”

Rafael rolled his eyes. “I think we should let her do the art class instead of gymnastics. That’s what she loves and it’s what she wants to do. We should honor her choices.”

“We talked about this, remember?” Sonny reminded him. “How’s she going to know about different things if she doesn’t experience them?”

Rafael shrugged again. “Does it matter? She’s five.”

Sonny thought about it. “No, of course it doesn’t. Like you said, she’s five. She can do gymnastics later, if she wants, if you think we should let her choose her extracurriculars. We both know she loves art and her teachers say she’s good at it.” He looked at Rafael sideways. “Are we really that controlling and overbearing?”

“I don’t know,” Rafael admitted, “but I think we could be.”

“Ew.” Sonny made a face. “Art it is.”

***

Rafael and Marlene entered the art studio for her first class, and she was nearly buzzing with excitement. “Look Papi!” she cried, seeing a pottery wheel. “That’s where you tan make all sorts of stuff with dough! It’s so tool!”

He guided her to the right room and they hung up her bag. She turned to go take a seat, then suddenly stopped. “Hey Papi? Thanks for wetting me do art. I weally, weally wove it! I might even do it when I grow up! Wike my job. Wouldn’t that be tool, Papi?”

He chuckled. “It would be, sweetheart. You can be anything you want to be, you know that?”

“Uh huh,” she said as a very pregnant woman entered the room and helped her son hang up his bag for class. Suddenly Marley smiled. “Or maybe I’ll just be a momma! I tould be a momma, wight Papi? And have a bunch of tids?” Pointing at the woman’s belly, she added, “Hey Papi, how’d that baby get in there anyway? And how’s he gonna get out?” She looked puzzled for a second, and he felt a sudden dread take over him. “Does she poop him out?” she asked loudly, laughing hysterically. “I hope not! That would be gross, Papi, huh?” Seeing her father’s look of horror, she cocked her head and patted his hand. “It’s otay, Papi. You tan tell me how the baby tomes out water, after art.” She kept laughing, shaking her head, as she entered the class and found a seat.

“That’s an entirely different class, huh, Papi?” the pregnant mother teased him with a grin as she walked by with her son.

“A class none of us are ready for,” he mumbled to himself, watching the woman’s son take a seat next to Marlene and the three of them begin to chat. “Yay, choices.”


End file.
